Life among the dead

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   Yes, it certainly gave me a little morale booster guys, and however small a victory this may be in the face of ongoing habitat loss, it's important to highlight, promote and encourage it i think. After all, every village has a churchyard.

Whenever i meet grounds-persons (or clergy) i ask them if they've heard of the splendid charity called Caring For God's Acre (http://www.caringforgodsacre.org.uk/index.php/flagship-species/slow-worms.html) and try to encourage them to consider the wildlife and perhaps at least spare older parts of the churchyard from over-strimming.

Some of the pics in this thread are from Devon Suz. I've visited a good number of churchyards in the Tiverton/Exeter area. They were extremely variable in 'quality', but included a few excellent oases buzzin' with life. Can pm you where they are if interested. Also found a couple of METAL gravestones in Devon.
By the way, i went to Berkeley recently and although the churchyard was disappointing habitat-wise, there was an interesting notice board detailing the site's history (over 1,000 yrs old!), gravestones etc. Every tomb was mapped and i wondered if this was similar to the work you've been doing? 

Impressive Meadow Ant (Lasius) mounds, like these from Berkeley, are a common sight in old churchyards and are important for the Chalk Hill Blue Butterfly. These hills seem to be tolerated reasonably well by the 'keepers and are often hunched up against a sunny gravestone:

Or sometimes sandwiched:

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Liz Heard Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Location: South West Status: Offline Points: 1429	Post Options Post Reply Quote Liz Heard Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 04 Sep 2015 at 3:17pm
	Yes, it certainly gave me a little morale booster guys, and however small a victory this may be in the face of ongoing habitat loss, it's important to highlight, promote and encourage it i think. After all, every village has a churchyard. Whenever i meet grounds-persons (or clergy) i ask them if they've heard of the splendid charity called Caring For God's Acre (http://www.caringforgodsacre.org.uk/index.php/flagship-species/slow-worms.html) and try to encourage them to consider the wildlife and perhaps at least spare older parts of the churchyard from over-strimming. Some of the pics in this thread are from Devon Suz. I've visited a good number of churchyards in the Tiverton/Exeter area. They were extremely variable in 'quality', but included a few excellent oases buzzin' with life. Can pm you where they are if interested. Also found a couple of METAL gravestones in Devon. By the way, i went to Berkeley recently and although the churchyard was disappointing habitat-wise, there was an interesting notice board detailing the site's history (over 1,000 yrs old!), gravestones etc. Every tomb was mapped and i wondered if this was similar to the work you've been doing? Impressive Meadow Ant (Lasius) mounds, like these from Berkeley, are a common sight in old churchyards and are important for the Chalk Hill Blue Butterfly. These hills seem to be tolerated reasonably well by the 'keepers and are often hunched up against a sunny gravestone: Or sometimes sandwiched: